The invention relates to an airbag device for protecting a vehicle occupant.
Such an airbag device in the form of a side airbag device particularly serves for protecting the upper part of the body and/or the head of a vehicle occupant, as in the case of a crash, for instance in case of a side impact, a collision of the upper body/head and the lateral vehicle structure, e.g. window pane of a motor vehicle or a lateral pillar or a door rail of the vehicle structure and/or with an object intruding into the vehicle, is prevented. For this, the airbag device comprises at least one region inflatable with gas, that forms in the inflated state a gas cushion for a vehicle occupant to be protected, wherein the inflatable region comprises a first material layer (airbag layer), that extends—with respect to a state of the airbag device in which the airbag device is inflated and built into a motor vehicle—in front of a lateral vehicle structure, e.g. in front of a lateral window pane of a motor vehicle, as well as a second material layer (airbag layer), that opposes the first airbag layer in the inflated state of the airbag device, and thus faces e.g. the vehicle interior space and therewith the upper body/head of a vehicle occupant to be protected.
Such side protection devices for vehicle occupants on the basis of an airbag device are generally known. In an embodiment, such a side airbag device serves as a head protection device not only for protecting the head of a single vehicle occupant that resides on a front seat of a motor vehicle for instance, but moreover (at the same time) for protecting several vehicle occupants, particularly two occupants sitting one after the other, as the head protection device in the form of an airbag device does not only extend in front of a front side pane, but also in front of a rear side pane of a motor vehicle, for instance along the vehicle longitudinal direction from the so-called A-pillar via the B-pillar to the C-pillar or D-pillar of a motor vehicle, see WO 2001/089884 A1.
Thereby, not only head protection devices are addressed at hand, but more generally also side protection devices in the form of an airbag device that can be fastened to a lateral vehicle body, e.g., to a roof frame, to a vehicle door or to a vehicle seat. Such airbag devices are also generally denoted as side airbags.
Especially in the case of an airbag device that is configured as side airbag for protecting the head of a vehicle occupant, i.e. as a so-called head side airbag, usually at least one inflatable region of the airbag device extends in front of a lateral window pane.
It would be advantageous to further improve an airbag device of the kind mentioned in the beginning.